The Loner's Outpost
by Naruto Uzumaki7
Summary: Naruto lived through the pain of loneliness everyday his entire life, hoping one day for that to end. When he joins forces with two others who were as alone as he was, they strive together to take the shinobi world by storm. Just what can three orphan boys do together against an entire world? A lot.


Disclaimer: Don't own anything associated with Naruto.

This is an idea that has been crawling around and growing in my head and something I just need to get out.

This is a story of how a simple change, Naruto making two friends as a kid, causes a butterfly effect that changes the storyline of the entire series. Hopefully you enjoy.

* * *

The Loner's Outpost

Chapter 1: Not Alone Anymore

* * *

In the village of Konohagakure, the residents were getting ready to pack it in and call it a day. Civilians went about the end of their errands while the shinobi got ready to end their day of missions and training. The golden sun set in the sky slowly deflated downward with beautiful rays of light beaming down into the village, having down its job for the day and was ready for the moon to take its turn. The clouds drifted along the horizon, continuing their never ending journey through the skies.

Walking down the barren pathway by Konoha's dock was a ten-year old boy with spiky blond hair and crystal blue eyes. His cheeks were puffed out in annoyance, making the three whisker-like marks on each cheek stand out to the world. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his orange shorts with his head held high and lips formed into a nice frown. His blue sandals scrapped against the dirt pavement loudly in an echo to the annoyance that radiated in the young boy's chest.

This was Naruto Uzumaki; the container, otherwise known as jinchuriki, of the Kyuubi, a demon fox that had attacked Konoha ten years prior, which had earned him ostracism from the entire village as a result.

Naruto wasn't having the best of days. While he couldn't recall a day that could be considered a decent one at best, this one in particular was climbing up that long list of ten years worth of shitty days With the failure of getting away with a Smoke Bomb prank towards Iruka-sensei and failing yet another test with his bitter loss in his Taijutsu class match rounding off his school day, his mood was dampened quite greatly. After staying behind for a half hour listening to Iruka-sensei lecture him about his prank and another hour clapping erasers as his punishment, he was finally allowed to leave.

When he left, he was met with stragglers from his class that found it necessary to remind him of his embarrassing failure to land a single hit on Sasuke Uchiha, the class prodigy, during sparring. After he got away from that, he had to endure a long tedious walk back to his empty apartment with the common whispers and ignorance of the village population. Having gotten fed up with the stares, he took a detour to the dock where he usually saw the Uchiha punk hanging around. He didn't see him today, which was fine for him as he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut after his loss today.

All in all, it was a shitty day thrown in there with his common crappy ones.

'Me and my terrible luck.' Naruto hmphed. 'If that prank would've gone smoothly then I wouldn't be as annoyed. With all my usual shit, you'd think I'd at least have pranks.' He shrugged, smirking. 'Oh well, just means to try harder next time.' Naruto wasn't one to dwell much on failure. If he messed up on something, he came back with double the effort. Sasuke the Asshat could vouch for that every time they sparred, much to his annoyance every single time Naruto proclaimed he was gonna beat him. Naruto hadn't touched him yet in a fight, but he'll do it. He'll accomplish that goal just like his goal to become Hokage.

He turned his head to glance upward pass the trees and towards the Hokage Monument. The sun was slowly starting to set behind the Hokage Monument, radiating a bright glow that rushed past the four faces engraved in the stone and matched Naruto's orange vest and shorts nicely. Seeing this reminded him why he loved the color so much.

'Screw anyone that says orange is a bad color. They're too stupid to see its awesomeness.' He grinned, showing the first glimpse of positivity since his eraser clapping section. He stopped to admire the beauty of the sunset. He stayed at that spot for a few minutes before he continued his slow walk towards his forced-upon-him isolation he called home.

Naruto has been alone for as long as he can remember back. He's never had one friend or companion that he could do things with that every other kid his age did. He's made attempts here and there, but it always ended with the kids' parents pulling them away and saying to stay away from him. Every failure made Naruto angry at first before it dissolved into more confusion than anything. He has been trying and trying for years to figure out why everyone seemed to be against him. His assumptions ranged from thinking he smelled to thinking that he was scary somehow. He eventually quit the guessing game when he realized it only made him feel worse than better.

Whatever the peoples' problem was with him, he'd make them forget about it the day he became the Hokage. You couldn't hate the Hokage. They were the leader and the protector of the village. It seemed like the perfect solution to Naruto's troubles, so he set that as his goal.

'I'll become the greatest Hokage. Then everyone that ever looked down on me will kiss my feet begging for forgiveness... And I'll give it to them since I'm a nice guy.' He grinned. He couldn't wait! The day he became Hokage would kick the shit out if all these crappy days of his and make them all seem worth it to make it to his goal.

As he turned to continue his walk, he was slowly plagued by the thoughts of loneliness again.

Each step he took towards the direction of his empty house, Naruto's ecstatic grin slowly deflated to a small and sad frown. His thoughts of no one there waiting for him rammed against his skull as the reminder that there wasn't anyone to help support him and his dream slowly crawled forward to the forefront of his mind. This was the worst part of his walking home. He always seemed to get stuck in a bad mood while doing so.

He just didn't see how it was fair. He didn't have friends or family. The only people who even gave him positive interaction were Iruka-sensei and the Hokage. Everyone else ignored him. Naruto did his absolute best to push the negativity down his chest, burying it underneath his positive attitude about his dream to become Hokage. This usually worked well when he had something else to distract him from these thoughts.

He halted his walking, seeing that he was standing on the footpath to the training grounds. He could've kept walking, but that would only serve to force him to be stuck with these thoughts for an entire evening and night. The sun was still barely behind the monument, signaling that it was five, maybe six, o'clock. It was too early for him to go back. He could go to Ichiraku, but he didn't have enough money for a single bowl; his allowance not coming until the end of the week. Also, like he mentioned earlier, he wasn't exactly eager to go home to an empty apartment with only his depressing thoughts to keep him company like always.

His previous thoughts about his goal to become Hokage flowed through and an idea came to him! He could go to the training grounds and practice his jutsu!

'Yes! Who knows, maybe I'll invent some hotshot technique like the Sexy Jutsu, only this one will be even better!' He giggled in his spot, his hand covering his mouth. 'Oh man this is gonna be awesome!' With that goal in mind, he turned his heel and sprinted down the footpath towards the training grounds, kicking up a small dust cloud from his sudden movement.

* * *

Naruto had come to a halt when he made a good distance into the forest. He was looking around for a good spot where he can get some practice in. He wanted to get to a good spot where he would go undisturbed. He needed good concentration in order to make his new super awesome technique. Hey, if it was powerful enough the Old Man might make him Hokage sooner than he expected. He let a cheeky grin cross his face.

"I'm amazing." He boasted to himself. "I'll impress the whole village that they'll stop ignoring me and start worshipping me!" He bounced up and down on his heels. "I got goosebumps just thinking about it!"

He was brought out of his fantasy when he heard the sound of fists hitting something. Along with it were shouts. It sounded like someone was counting.

"Huh?" Naruto scratched his head. "Someone else is here?" He decided to check it out. Maybe he could get some inspiration for what technique he wanted to create. It was how he made Sexy Jutsu and he was absolutely proud of that move.

Naruto followed the shouting, making sure to be quiet as to not get caught. With the entire village hating him, he didn't want to scare off this person, whoever they may be. He hid in the bushes, laying flat on his stomach as he peeked through the leaves and twigs that were in his way.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw that it was a kid only about a year older than him. He had black hair that was curved upwards in the back. He wore a short gray robe and a martial arts belt around his waist. He was punching the lone log in the area with jab after jab, not slowing his pacing at all.

"If I cannot do 2000 punches, then it is 2000 kicks!" He exclaimed, counting off his hits, "1001, 1002, 1003,"

'2000 punches!? And 2000 kicks if he fails!? This guy is crazy!' Naruto thought. Nonetheless, he found himself staying to watch, his interest now peeked as he watched this kid go to work on the training log.

As the guy counted off his punches, Naruto realized he hasn't seen this guy anywhere around the village. He would know as he tried to make friends with anyone that was within his age group. Although to be fair, he couldn't put names to every face. The only ones he knew were Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. Everyone else's names kinda slipped his mind for one reason or another.

Much to Naruto's surprise, a half hour later, this guy managed to do it! "1998, 1999, 2000!" He concluded. "Okay, now for my kicks!"

'But he did it?' Naruto was confused. His eyes widened. 'So even if he succeeds, he keeps on with the crazy training regiment?' Naruto's eyes sparkled. 'He must be super strong! I gotta try it!'

"If I cannot do 2000 kicks, then it is 2000 jump ropes!" He got in a stance. "1, 2, 3,"

"Hey!"

The boy missed his fourth kick, swinging past the log and entering the beginnings of a split. He caught himself by grabbing the log and balancing himself out. He quickly turned his head to check on his company he was now just noticing.

Naruto stepped out of the bushes. "That's so cool how you give yourself those crazy numbers and even crazier penalties if you fail!" He was off on a tangent, confusing the poor boy in front of him.

The boy blushed at being watched by someone he didn't know was there. "Who are you?" He asked, looking past him to make sure that he was the only one there, not wanting to get scared again.

"Me? Oh that's easy! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage of the village!" He gave a megawatt grin that had the boy feeling like smiling back. "How about yourself?"

"Me?" He pointed to his chest. "Oh, my name is Rock Lee." He bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-kun." He came back up. "What're you doing out here?"

"Same thing as you: training." He said. He laughed sheepishly. "Although I've been watching you for the past half hour instead of getting anything done." The correct term was spying, but Naruto felt that was way too strong of a word for the situation.

Lee blushed at the reminder of having been watched. "What for, if I may ask?" He actually had every right to ask, but he didn't like to be rude, especially to new people and strangers.

"I heard you yelling, so I came to see what was going on. I saw you doing your punches and your promise to do 2000 punches and I was thinking 'No way can this guy do it'. So, I hid and watched to see if you would or not fail."

"And you came out when I did." Lee finished, knowing the story up to that point. "Well, you made me fail my kicks."

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry about that. Got kinda swept up in the excitement. He seemed to finally locate something that was glaringly obvious. "You got crazy eyebrows!" Naruto's comment had Lee trip in his spot, mumbling something under his breath on why everyone had to point out the eyebrows and their abnormal size. Naruto folded his hands behind his head, a little embarrassed at his comment and now looking for a way to move past that. "Why do you train like this?" Smooth, he smirked to himself.

"You mean the large numbers?" Lee asked. At Naruto's nod, he shrugged. "It's a good way to train. With the big number, you're pushing your body to break through its limits and get even stronger. But the number is so big that most would quit before they even got started, so that's why there's a penalty just as tough as the training you're doing. This way, no matter what, you're forced to keep going." He explained. "It's also great for stamina."

"You go to the Academy?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Lee nodded. "I've actually seen you around. You're the one pulling all those pranks on Iruka-sensei."

Naruto grinned proudly. "Yep, that's me alright." He nodded. "On top of training to be a shinobi, I'm also a top of the line prankster." Lee laughed. "Your Taijutsu must be amazing with this kind of training. You must be the toughest kid in your class."

Lee's smile deflated, his head going with it as he stared down at the patch of dirt where his jump rope was. He had to do 2000 of those since he couldn't do the 2000 kicks.

Naruto recognized that look. It was the look of failure, one he knew way too well by now. "Wha!?" He gasped. "You're at the bottom!?"

"Dead last of my class..." He sighed. Naruto's eyes widened. They had something in common. "My Taijutsu is laugh worthy at best and my Ninjutsu and Genjutsu is worst."

"You can't be serious..." Naruto's words died down when Lee did the handseals for the Clone Jutsu and out came... Nothing. Even Naruto at least got some ghostly pale washout of a clone. Lee got thin air. "Wow, you're Ninjutsu really does suck."

Lee sighed. "That's why I try to improve my Taijutsu as best as I can. That's I stay here everyday all night until I collapse. I wanna show the world that even without Ninjutsu and Genjutsu that I can be something. I can be a splendid shinobi." He hung his arms. "I try so hard and I still stay at the bottom where everyone laughs at me, calling me an idiot for my dream."

Naruto gasped.

'You? Hokage? Yeah right?'

'The day you become Hokage is the day you make a friend, loser?'

'A monkey has a better chance at being Hokage?'

He knew all too well what Lee was feeling. The criticism, the laughter, the insults. He knew them all too well. But yet, every insult just gave Naruto more drive and determination to complete his goal. The thought of giving up never once crossed his mind. They would win if he did and Naruto wasn't one to hand out easy victories. His spars in the Academy didn't count.

"Screw them," Lee looked shocked at what he said. "Who cares what they say? You can't be a good Shinobi with only Taijutsu? Prove them wrong. Whenever they say no, say yes. When they laugh at you, laugh back at them for doubting you. If you let others get to you, then you'll never accomplish your goal. People laugh at me for my dream of being Hokage. I'm a dead last like you, Bushy Brows, and never once did that ever make me think about abandoning my dream."

Lee was in awe at what he said. 'Naruto-kun...'

Naruto smirked. "Let's make a deal, Bushy Brows. Right here, by this log, we agree to get stronger together..." He took out a small kunai that he carried with him and engraved his initials on the log with the tagline 'Future Hokage' underneath it. He handed the kunai out to Lee, who stared at it. Naruto gave him a big grin, which had Lee grinning back.

"You're right, my friend! Together, we can be the strongest!" As Lee took the knife and begin tagging the log, he missed Naruto's eyes widen and fill with unshed tears at his proclamation. Lee engraved his initials under Naruto's tagline and added his own that read 'Taijutsu Master'. He turned back to hand Naruto his kunai, seeing the wetness that he was holding behind his eyes. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded, wiping his eyes. "Yeah, it's just... We're marking an important moment in history here, Bushy Brows. It's very emotional." His joke had Lee laughing while he pocketed the kunai. "Now... I believe that you need to do 2000 jump ropes?"

Lee nodded. "Yes, and if I can't do that, then I'll do 2000 squats!" He grabbed the discarded jump rope.

"And as for me," Naruto stepped back to the log. "I'll do 2000 punches and if I can't, then I'll do 2000 kicks."

"Splendid!" Lee nodded. "Let us begin!" They started in sync, counting off together. "1, 2, 3,"

As they began their training, Naruto had a massive grin plastered on his face the entire time.

* * *

"1997, 1998, 1999, 2000!"

Naruto finished his final jump, the jump rope hitting the ground as he panted. Lee was also panting, hunched over his knees as he finished his final jumping jack. The sun had long since set and the moon looked to have been up there for a while. The glow of the moon shone down on them, the stars twinkling and adding more beauty to the dark sky above.

Both boys fell spread eagle on their backs, panting lightly to catch their breath as they stared up above them towards the stars.

"I... feel... stronger... already..." Naruto panted.

"Me... too..." Lee added, as out of breath as the blond next to him. They paused to allow their lungs to refuel on oxygen, having driven their bodies into the ground. From their guess, they'd been at it for six hours. It was well past midnight at this point and they both had to go to the Academy tomorrow.

After five minutes, Naruto turned his head. "You make a good training partner, Bushy Brows."

Lee smiled in thanks. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. You make a great training partner as well." He returned the compliment. While Lee had done this many times, having someone do it with him made it better.

"We should totally do this again." Naruto grinned, very eager to have someone to connect to in anyway; especially someone that was his age.

Lee returned the grin. "Yes. How about tomorrow at five, we meet here for another training session."

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto hopped to his feet like if he hadn't just been training his ass off for the past few hours. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bushy Brows." Naruto took off in the direction of his apartment, running at full speeds as his excitement grew with each step he took.

For the first time in... ever, Naruto couldn't wait for tomorrow. He finally had someone he could call a friend.

* * *

(The Next Day)

The two boys had kept their promise from the other day and were currently back at the log where they met the other night. Naruto had rushed over here once his time at the Academy ended, not at all upset that Sasuke had beaten him again, and was surprised that Lee was there before him, looking just as excited as he did. Although they were both early, they got started almost right away. They decided to begin with a small spar to see exactly how tough each other were.

Naruto ducked out of the way of Lee's jab, hitting his wrist against Lee's to use the force to throw the bushy browed boy off balance. Lee tilted to his right, Naruto using the opportunity to deliver a horizontal kick to Lee's kneecap; the boy falling to his knees. Naruto aimed for another kick, but was surprised when Lee used both of his hands to catch Naruto's foot, pushing him away and throwing him off balance in the process. Naruto flipped once in the air to regain his footing while Lee got back to his feet, shaking off the stinging in his knees.

The two friends grinned at one another. "Nice!" Naruto praised. "That was a good throw you used. You're definitely strong, Bushy Brows!"

Lee smiled. "That was a clever idea to hit me in the kneecap, one of the weakest joints in all the body." Naruto grinned at the praise, but hid the fact that he kicked him there because it was the closest body part of Lee's to Naruto's foot.

"Get ready!" Naruto jumped back towards Lee, his arm wind back as his hand balled into a fist. Lee quickly dodged and making Naruto's fist connect with the dirt ground. Shaking that off, Naruto turned from his spot and rushed Lee again. He executed a series of punches that Lee either caught, dodged, or took to the face. Lee returned the favor with a series of punches of his own after deflecting one of Naruto's punches, forcing the blond to go on the defensive.

Naruto tilted his head to the side in correspondence with Lee's attacks. He ducked a punch that came down the middle of his line of sight, aiming to deliver an uppercut to Lee as retaliation. Lee hopped backward to dodge before jumping back forward with a kick aimed for Naruto's chest, the blond suspended in mid-air from his attempted uppercut. Naruto took the kick to the chest, grumbling at the feel of Lee's foot hitting his chest as he went soaring into a tree. He rolled forward on a downward slope from the middle of the tree bark, landing in a tangled mess with his legs stretching up and his body lying against the base of the tree.

"Damn, Bushy Brows!" Naruto moaned as he pulled himself up. "You hit hard!"

Lee grinned. "If there's one thing about me that isn't mediocre Naruto-kun, it's that I can hit very hard." He flexed his muscles, earning an eye twitch from the blond that was still leaning against the tree.

"I can hit hard too, buddy!" Naruto warned, getting back into his stance.

"Bring it, my friend!" Lee slipped back into his.

They rushed towards each other, Lee catching Naruto's fist within his palm. Lee bent the arm over to the side, Naruto groaning at the strength that Lee was using while using his other hand to try and pull Lee's grip away. He gritted his teeth as he tried to think of a way to level out the playing field between them. An idea came to him through the pain...

He headbutted him...

Hard.

The two stayed still for a few seconds, the wind breezing through as they stayed in their spot.

One...

Two...

Three...

"Ahhhh!" They screamed in unison, breaking away and rubbing their foreheads with their hands. "No one wins with a headbutt!" Naruto screeched.

"You're correct!" Lee screeched as well. They kept at this for a few good seconds before they stopped, red lumps appearing on both their foreheads.

Naruto strolled towards the log. "I'm gonna do 3000 punches and 3000 kicks if I fail..."

"I'll do 3000 squats and 3000 sit-ups if I mess up..." Lee got some distance so he and Naruto weren't clambering on top of each other. It was evidently clear that the headbutt had ended what they perceived as a fun fight... And it was evidently clear that Naruto and Lee both weren't going to be using a headbutt again anytime soon.

* * *

(One Week Later)

It was barely noon, the sun resting comfortably in the middle of the sky. It was a day off for the Academy and thus Naruto and Lee had agreed to meet in the early hours of the morning so they would have a whole day of training. They did their usual warm up of a couple thousand push ups and sit ups and had a small spar with no headbutting this time, much to both their relief. They ended it when Lee had gotten him in a chokehold, Naruto calling uncle and conceding defeat. They went back to their workout for a bit until Naruto decided to pause it to speak to him.

"Hey Bushy Brows," Naruto called for Lee's attention. The bushy browed boy finished his round of jump rope before turning back over to his friend.

"Yes?" He asked, setting the jump rope down. For the past week, the two dead lasts had been doing a regular routine of training from after their classes in the Academy to the very late hours of the night. With a partner to help them in their training, they were having a much better time telling if they were getting stronger. Naruto now could land a few hits on Lee before the older boy got the advantage as opposed to only one hit, while Lee himself managed to learn how to better use strategy in a fight; Naruto being a sneaky little bastard when it came to fighting. For only a week of training together, they were slowly getting better.

But by far the biggest improvement was the friendship they felt grow with each hour that they were together. Naruto could put this down in the records as the longest lasting relationship he had with someone his age that wasn't toxic or antagonistic. He made history with Lee and he wanted to make sure that he could keep making history with him.

Naruto took a pause from hitting the log. "It's about lunchtime, so would you feel up for going to Ichiraku Ramen?" He asked with his trademark grin. Outside he was smiling, inside he was very anxious on whether Lee would wanna be seen with him in public. While Naruto liked to think they were friends, inside he still had to ask himself if this was real. After Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru were pulled away from him, he didn't want to have Lee's parents find them and pull him away. Naruto wasn't sure if he could take another rejection.

Lee considered the idea and nodded. "That sounds like fun. I am a little hungry." He revealed, doing a few hops in his spot to keep the blood going.

Naruto's grinned stayed situated on his face. "Okay then! Ichiraku, here we come!" Despite his exclamation, he and Lee didn't move. They locked eyes with one another before staring down the path that would lead back to the village.

One...

Two...

Three...

They both ran down the dirt path.

"Last one there has to pay!" Naruto shouted as he took lead, Lee not very far behind him.

Lee grinned. "You are on, my friend!" Lee picked his pace up, matching Naruto foot for foot; their bodies brushing against one another as they each ran like the wind was carrying them a hundred miles an hour.

* * *

"You got lucky..." Naruto complained as he hauled up to Ichiraku, shaking some lettuce out of his head and pulling some pieces of tomato out of his orange vest. Lee was waiting outside, his lips curled into a tiny grin as he leaned against the side of the Ichiraku stand.

"Nope," he shook his head. "I saw that cart coming and went to the rooftops. You decided to be a showoff and try to jump over it." He reminded. He glanced his friend over. "And that didn't really work out like how you were hoping." He laughed when Naruto threw a piece of lettuce at him, which Lee dodged effortlessly. "Looks like you're paying."

Naruto hmphed. "Lucky for you, I got my allowance from Hokage-jiji today." Naruto was really hoping that Lee had to treat him for the ramen so he could save his allowance for another day. He sighed. He just hoped Lee didn't eat as much as he did or he was gonna be broke for the entire month.

Lee made a confused huh after hearing that. "You get an allowance from Hokage-sama himself?" He asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah. Since I'm an orphan and all, he gives me a monthly allowance to get by." He answered. He didn't see what the big deal was. He was sure he did this for all orphans that lived alone. He heard Sasuke was alone too, so maybe Hokage-jiji gave him something too.

"Orphan?" Lee asked, more so to himself than to Naruto. Naruto blinked in response. Why was Lee acting so weird about it? "I haven't seen you around the orphanage."

"Hmmm?" Naruto was even more confused. "Seen me around? Why would you be at the orphanage?" Lee didn't say, already figuring that Naruto would figure it out in a second. Like he guessed, Naruto's eyes widened. "You're an orphan too!?"

Lee gave a small shrug of the shoulders. "It's not that big a deal," he echoed Naruto's previous thoughts before he gave a small smile. "Come on. You owe me some ramen."

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly as Lee entered the small restaurant. He shook his head before he followed him in, intending to find out more about his friend. They had another thing in common. He wanted to maybe see if he can help him out with whatever sadness he must be feeling.

Naruto followed Lee inside, taking a seat at his usual stool. He could already smell the sweet aroma of the ramen. He was sure he was drooling as Lee was looking at him worryingly, moving his hand up and down like if he wanted to grab something.

After he sat down, he was greeted by the main chef Teuchi with his daughter Ayame. "Hello, Naruto-kun." The young waitress gave him a kind smile that made Naruto grin back in return.

"Hey Ayame-nee-chan! Teuchi-oji." He waved. He always liked Teuchi and Ayame. They were the only others aside from Iruka and the Hokage to show him any shred of kindness and respect. That was why he loved coming here. That and for the ramen.

Teuchi smiled at him. "It's good to see you, Naruto." Naruto kept the grin situated on his face. Teuchi noticed that Naruto had company, which threw him for a loop for a small second. This was the first he noticed Naruto with someone his own age. "Who's your friend here?" Ayame just noticed Naruto had company, feeling joy and happiness for the blond boy in front of her.

Lee bowed politely from his seat. "My name is Rock Lee, sir." He answered.

Naruto turned his grin over to Lee. "Yeah, we met in the forest last week! We've been training together every day since!"

The two Ichiraku workers turned to one another and shared a smile. They've never seen Naruto so happy before. It couldn't help but make them feel very happy for him too. He deserved a friend after everything he has been through.

Naruto was still going on. "He's insanely strong! He's like me and the dead last, but we're not letting that get us down!"

Lee looked flustered from the praise he was being given, but gave a nod in agreement. "No we're not, my friend."

Naruto's face brightened up considerably when Lee called him his friend. Although he has been hearing it for a little over a week now, he still got excited hearing it.

Teuchi kept his smile, "Well, what do you boys want to eat?"

Naruto's was instantaneous. "Miso with barbeque pork!"

"Beef!" Lee's answer came next.

"Coming right up, boys!" He nodded, motioning for Ayame to follow him into the kitchen to make the food.

Lee sighed in relief. Hopefully now that they were inside and their food was ordered, Naruto wouldn't try and press the subject on his parents.

"So, Bushy Brows, you're an orphan too?" Crap! Lee groaned. He wasn't angry that Naruto was pressing the subject. He was more reluctant about it. It wasn't something he had practice in saying.

Still, the look of concern and curiosity on Naruto's face gave him this burning feeling of strength he never knew when the topic of his parents came to mind. He wasn't bringing this up just because he wanted to know. He actually seemed to care. Lee then remembered that Naruto confirmed he was an orphan too. He was probably trying to connect with him on a deeper level.

Lee shrugged. "Like I said outside, it isn't a big deal..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I'm not the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but I know that's not true. I'm an orphan too, buddy."

Lee sighed. "Yeah..." He could feel Naruto's gaze on him despite looking at the ground beneath him and the stool he was sitting on. Knowing he was persistent and wasn't gonna stop until he got it, he decided to comply. "Six years. That's how long I've been an orphan."

Naruto's eyes widened, but refrained from saying anything. He didn't want to push Lee away. He would let him talk about it and go from there. This was one of the only times Naruto would be careful about what he said to someone.

"My parents were Jonin shinobi. They were sent on a mission out towards Iwagakure and were found a week later. They were cut up and fried to a crisp. Only reason they were able to identify the bodies was because my father had this tattoo of a baby dog with my initials on his arm."

Lee had some tears in his eyes as he kept the explanation going whilst Naruto had this rage he felt bubble in his stomach. Hearing his friend so hurt crushed him. Though he felt anger before, he never had anything this intense.

"I was sent to the orphanage and have been there ever since. The kids were nice until I expressed my desire to become a ninja. They laughed at me for not being able to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu and they still do. That's part of the reason why I like to be out all the time and stay training until it's very late." He shrugged. "I got tired of hearing the remarks at 'home'." His enthusiasm was clearly high when he spoke about the orphanage. "At the Academy it's bad enough, but to go back where you live and hear it?" He shook his head. "I just like to avoid it."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. He only left the orphanage because the people there never really bothered to look after him. They never abused him or anything like that, but they would forget to help with his laundry or make sure he ate because they forgot he was there. He got annoyed by it and asked Hokage-jiji if he could live in his own apartment, telling the old man that the kids were being bullies to him and the people in charge couldn't get it to stop. He could've told the truth, but that could've resulted in the orphanage getting closed for neglect and have the other kids sent somewhere else that was worse. He had to note the irony that his lie was the truth when it came to Lee.

Seeing Lee was done, he decided it was only fair to say his story. "I was an orphan my whole life." He began, barely noting Lee's turn of the head towards his direction. "I never knew who my parents were and I didn't have a friend until you." He could feel the awkwardness stick all over his body like sand on a wet body, but decided to bare through it for Lee. "I was bullied in the orphanage too for being a loser, so I asked Hokage-jiji if I could live in an apartment on my own to get away from it. He said yes so long as I check in every week to make sure I'm not dead."

Lee nodded. While it was shocking to hear Naruto had been chased out, he had seen enough of him to know that he wasn't entirely broken over it. He did however feel shocked at the revelation that he was his first friend. With Naruto's charisma and enthusiastic personality, he figured he'd at least have a few friends; despite him being the dead-last.

"Being laughed at for your shortcomings is terrible and annoying," he continued. "But to let those shortcomings hold you back instead of finding a way to get around them is just as terrible. It means you've given up and that is something I don't like to do."

Lee had to smile at his enthusiasm. He's known Naruto for only a week yet he didn't know how he could've gone a day without hearing his confidence inspiring voice and speeches. He's made Lee feel better about himself in a week than he's felt in years. "I do understand what you're saying, Naruto-kun." He nodded. "But to have nowhere to go to get a break is really difficult to manage without."

'Or is it?' Naruto grinned mischievously as Teuchi arrived with their bowls. He had an idea and he was gonna run it by Lee after they ate.

"Dig in, boys."

The two friends said their thanks to the chef before they stared at the bowls. Giving the other boy next to them slow eye turns of the head and eye contact that seemed to stretch, they shouted out simultaneously:

"Eating contest!"

Despite his earlier worry on losing a lot of his money, Naruto swiftly forgot like he never even considered it and went to eating to outpace Lee.

The two friends went through bowl after bowl for ten minutes with Teuchi having stars in his eyes the entire time.

* * *

After the eating contest, which ended with Naruto's thirteen to Lee's eleven along with Naruto's wallet being deflated a good amount, the two decided to work off the food they had digested. They returned to the training fields with Naruto racing his earlier idea in his head while he and Lee literally raced around the general area. They made the condition that whoever lost the hundred laps around the field had to do two-hundred more while the winner could do anything of his choosing.

While they entered the seventy-fifth lap, Naruto decided to just spit it out. "Hey, Bushy Brows, you wanna move in?"

The sudden and casual way Naruto had proposed the idea to him had Lee tripping over his own feet, allowing Naruto to zig zag around him and take the lead. Lee saved himself with a handstand and a flip forward to keep his momentum going, but he was still considerably surprised at what Naruto had said.

"Move in?" He asked to make sure he had heard that right and the ramen wasn't affecting him in some crazy post-consumption kind of way.

Hearing the question reflected back at him made Naruto realize the absurdity of it. Still, he gave Lee a good hearted laugh. "Well, not move in per say, but more like spending a few nights at my place to recover from the bullying." He better explained what he meant. He didn't wanna be all weird about it and scare Lee away. He wouldn't know what to do if he accidentally did that.

Lee breathed easier after hearing that. "Sorry for mistaking what you meant." He smiled. "Sure, that sounds like a good idea." If he could go somewhere and get a chance to relax from the criticism, he'd take it, especially if it was a night at a friend's.

Naruto grinned. "Awesome!" For the first time in his life, he was gonna have someone else in his house! And they were gonna spend actual time there! His excitement awakened this burst of energy in him that had him running faster than he thought he could, effectively cutting off Lee's attempt to regain the lead.

The bushy browed boy's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw that Naruto very well can lap him. "W-Wait! Naruto!" He pushed more energy into his legs to try and catch up with his friend.

The whole time, Naruto had a grin the size of the Hokage Monument on his face with Lee having a smaller scale smile on his.

* * *

Yosh, what a chapter! I can't tell you how much the title of this story was driving me crazy. The summary as well was incredibly annoying.

I went for a small jump in time for Naruto and Lee's bonding as opposed to dragging it out for chapters upon chapters. This way, you can see their progress grow in a way that also moves the story along. You can say I'm rushing, but I see it as squeezing in growth while things move along. As much as I love character development and growth, I don't wanna see it take up the majority of an action story. There will be slowdown moments and such, but they won't take up a large portion of the story. This would've been longer, but it is only an introduction and I didn't wanna overwhelm you guys on the first chapter. We'll wrap up the 'Humble Beginnings' Arc in the next two or three chapters when we find out who the second friend is and then we'll start veering off into canon territory with changes and additions.

Leave a review if you enjoyed and let me know what you liked or disliked so I can improve. This is gonna be a long story, so any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Let the journey begin!


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